My dog that i had growing up had to have this done. He was just fine. Hope all is well, OP!

Vet here- as PP said, keeping dog away from tail during healing is essential. Two ecollars, basket muzzle and a syringe casing bandage are all used in our practice. We do everything we can to keep dog's mouth away from tail!! Pain meds, sedatives and sometimes antibiotics.

Awww there is actually a medical name for dogs who are so happy they wag their tail to the point of injuring themselves? I don't know why, but this is ridiculously sweet, yet pitiful to me. Poor baby, needing to get a tail amputation! Luckily animals seem to recover quickly from these types of things.

Thanks all! She had it done Friday and seems ok. It's sad because she seems a little confused by it, but otherwise ok.

I've known two dogs who had tail amputation caused by happy tail. After amputation and healing, they seemed fine, not bothered by the shortened or missing tail.

Anonymous wrote:what is "happy tail"? does your dog chew his tail when he's happy??

http://www.canidae.com/blog/2012/07/what-is-happy-tail-syndrome-in-dogs.html

We had a coonhound that used to have this problem when we first adopted him. Luckily it was related to crating, so we were able to stop crating quickly and it healed up fine. But we had several occasions where he left a nice dog height trail of blood around the house because he was doing his "I'm so glad you're home" sprints around the house while bleeding. It's so sad when they hurt themselves because they're happy! Good luck OP (and PP).

what is "happy tail"? does your dog chew his tail when he's happy??

OP, we're going through happy tail right now, I feel for you.

Our breeder has a happy tail amputee. The biggest thing seems to be just making sure they stay away during healing so it doesn't have to be more of a dock. Cone of shame is a must. Dress and clean as required.

Other than that, it seems to go like anything else. She doesn't seem to notice at all.

Has anyone's dog had it's ail amputated? My dog had a "happy tail" injury that went bad and she's having most of her tail amputated tomorrow. Anyone know what to expect? (Other than a shorter tail.) I'll ask the vet but I wanted to hear about any experiences.